2012 review: Red Sox collapse top story

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 27, 2013 at 8:34 AM

As far as the Red Sox were concerned, 2012 was a year to forget. Devastated by injuries, they finished with their first losing record (69-93) since 1993 and their worst record since 1965 (62-100). Their long sellout streak ended, but they refused to admit it. Bobby Valentine, above, turned out to be a better broadcaster than a manager.

As far as the Red Sox were concerned, 2012 was a year to forget. Devastated by injuries, they finished with their first losing record (69-93) since 1993 and their worst record since 1965 (62-100).

Their long sellout streak ended, but they refused to admit it. Bobby Valentine, above, turned out to be a better broadcaster than a manager. So the Sox canned him and acquired Toronto manager and former Boston pitching coach John Farrell for shortstop Mike Aviles to replace Valentine as Sox manager.

With the Sox going nowhere, they sent Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Dodgers on Aug. 25. The names of the players the Sox received in the deal aren't important; the fact that they rid themselves of $261 million in salaries through 2018 is.

During the offseason, the Sox spent more than $90 million to sign David Ross, Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster and Stephen Drew as free agents and acquired Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan. All of the free agent signees are in their 30s, and none is coming off an eye-opening season. The signing of Mike Napoli to a three-year, $39-million deal was on hold after problems were found with his hips during a physical.

Red Sox public address announcer Carl Beane died at age 59 when he suffered a heart attack and drove into a tree near Hemlock Ridge Golf Course in Sturbridge. Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky died on Aug. 13 at the age of 92, but only four Red Sox players attended his funeral in nearby Swampscott even though the team was off that day.

This year also marked the passing of former pitcher Mel Parnell, former major league player and Red Sox coach Eddie “The Walking Man” Yost, and former Patriots linebacker Junior Seau.

New England Patriots

With the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins combining to win seven championships since the 2002 Super Bowl, local sports fans have grown to expect success.

The year 2012 began on a high when the Patriots reached the Super Bowl again, but unfortunately things went downhill from there.

The Giants beat the Pats in the Super Bowl in the final minute for the second time in five years, this time on Ahmad Bradshaw's 6-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left. In 2007, Eli Manning found Plaxico Burress for a 13-yard game-winning score with 35 seconds left.

With Tom Brady enjoying another stellar season, the Pats won seven in a row this season to jump atop the power ranking polls, but a home loss to San Francisco will likely cost them a first-round bye in the playoffs. Rob Gronkowski, who played in the Super Bowl in February with an injured ankle that required surgery after the season, has missed the last five games with a broken forearm.

Wes Welker, who didn't come up with a crucial catch late in the Super Bowl, battled with the Patriots over his contract and ended up signing for a one-year, $9.5 million franchise tag. Early in the season, it appeared as if the Pats were trying to phase out Welker in favor of Julian Edelman, but Welker still became the first NFL player to catch 100 or more passes in five seasons.

Boston Bruins

One year after capturing the Stanley Cup, the Bruins disappointed their fans with a first-round playoff exit in April against the underdog Washington Capitals, losing Game 7 at home in overtime. Not long after that, goalie Tim Thomas announced that he would sit out the 2012-13 season to devote more time to his family and other personal matters.

As it turned out, Thomas wasn't alone in his boycott. Hockey fans were handed another dose of disappointment in September when NHL owners locked out the players over a labor dispute, putting the 2012-13 season on hold.

Despite the use of federal mediators, a new collective bargaining agreement still had not been agreed to by year's end, and it threatened to wipe out the entire NHL season for the second time in eight years.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics got off to a slow start in their lockout-shortened season, but surprised just about everyone by coming within one victory of shocking the eventual NBA champion Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. After losing Ray Allen to the Heat as a free agent over the summer, the Celtics hovered around the .500 mark the first couple of months of the 2012-13 season.

Rajon Rondo was a bright spot, handing out double-digit assists in 37 consecutive regular-season games to tie former Utah star John Stockton for second all-time, but Rondo's streak ended when he got in a scuffle with Brooklyn's Kris Humphries late in the first half a home loss.

Worcester Sharks

Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock returned to form in his first full season after Manchester's Dwight King stepped on his left leg and severed a nerve on Feb. 4, 2011. Last February, Sharks coach Roy Sommer became the fourth coach in AHL history to record 500 wins, but Worcester missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

The Sharks drew their largest crowd in their seven seasons in Worcester, 10,120, on Feb. 24 to watch Gronkowski, with his surgically repaired left foot in a cast, spike a puck before the game at center ice.

The Sharks spent much of the first part of the 2012-13 AHL season atop the Atlantic Division and are still only a few points out of first.

Worcester Tornadoes

Worcester lost its professional baseball team when the Worcester Tornadoes spun out of existence after the 2012 season, which included sideshow act Jose Canseco. The Can-Am League stripped Tornadoes owner Todd Breighner of his membership in the league for not paying the team's bills and no ownership group could be found for 2013.

The league and city hopes to have a team in 2014. The Tornadoes won the Can-Am League crown in their inaugural season in 2005, but finished last in 2012.

Colleges

Assumption graduate Brian Kelly guided the University of Notre Dame football team to a 12-0 regular season and appearance in the BCS national championship game.

In February, the Patriot League announced it would begin offering football scholarships in 2013.“What this will do for Holy Cross, like it will do for every other school in the league, it will help us get better students, get better athletes,” athletic director Dick Regan said.

Boston College beat Ferris State, 4-1, to capture its third NCAA hockey championship in five years, all three after winning the regional at the DCU Center, prompting Eagles coach Jerry York to call Worcester his favorite place other than his hometown of Watertown.

The Becker men's basketball team won the New England Collegiate Conference title, qualified for the NCAA Division 3 Tournament, and won a first-round game against William Paterson.

High schools

After leading Gardner High to 16 state swim titles, Don Lemieux resigned after he was not allowed to coach in the state championship meet in February. The MIAA claimed the coach broke a rule by allowing players to overlap their high school and club schedules, a charge Lemieux, school officials and Gardner mayor have said did not happen. Later in the year, the MIAA stripped Gardner of its 2012 sectional title and placed the Wildcats on probation.

Northbridge High's Ken LaChapelle became the first high school football coach in Massachusetts to earn 300 wins at same school.

The Auburn High football team defeated Tantasqua, 33-7, to win its fifth consecutive Super Bowl and finished atop the T&G football poll for the first time. The Rockets have won 62 of their last 63 games.

Holy Name High running back Quron Wright, the T&G Hometeam Player of the Year, led the state with 2,254 rushing yards last fall despite a late-season injury and the 5-foot-4 senior finished his career with 5,891 rushing yards to set a Central Mass. record.

St. John's High junior quarterback Drew Smiley became the first Central Mass. player to rush for 1,000 or more yards and pass for 3,000 or more yards in a season and his 3,123 passing yards set a Central Mass. record.

Boxing

Worcester fighter Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez worked his way to a No. 2 ranking by the WBC and into the super middleweight title picture with a pair of victories, both televised on HBO, raising his professional record to 22-0-0 with 15 knockouts.

The first win, in March at Madison Square Garden in New York, was a unanimous 10-round decision over Donovan George. Next came an impressive eighth-round TKO of previously unbeaten Jason Escalera in September at Foxwoods Resort & Casino.

At year's end, the 27-year-old Rodriguez, a Dominican native who took up boxing under coach Carlos Garcia at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, was on the verge of signing to compete in a lucrative four-man tournament in Monte Carlo in March and June of 2013. The tournament featured purses that could make him a millionaire if he wins both fights.

Tennis

On Feb. 4 and 5, the U.S. blanked Belarus, 5-0, in a Fed Cup matches at the DCU Center. Venus Williams played her first match since she withdrew from the opening round of the U.S. Open five months earlier due to fatigue and joint pain from Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease.

Unfortunately, the final day of the competition was held the same day that the Pats played the Giants in the Super Bowl so only 2,279 fans showed up. But unlike Pats fans, at least the tennis faithful got to see their team win.

Cycling

The Longsjo Classic cycling race in Fitchburg was canceled for the second year in a row, this time due to low registration numbers. The race was called off in 2011 due to a fire along the route. The event is scheduled to return June 27-30 next year.

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